title: Complement and innate immune evasion strategies of the human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans.
abstract: Candida albicans is a medically important fungus that can cause a wide range of diseases ranging from superficial infections to disseminated disease, which manifests primarily in immuno-compromised individuals. Despite the currently applied anti-fungal therapies, both mortality and morbidity caused by this human pathogenic fungus are still unacceptably high. Therefore new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies are urgently needed to prevent fungal infection. In order to define new targets for combating fungal disease, there is a need to understand the immune evasion strategies of C. albicans in detail. In this review, we summarize different sophisticated immune evasion strategies that are utilized by C. albicans. The description of the molecular mechanisms used for immune evasion does on one hand help to understand the infection process, and on the other hand provides valuable information to define new strategies and diagnostic approaches to fight and interfere with Candida infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Products Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Skerka
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kurzai
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Zipfel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology*; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D007113:Immunity, Innate
chemical_list: D003165:Complement System Proteins
keywords: Candida albicans; Complement; Evasion strategies; Fungal infection